Maryland § 7-1A-05

§ 7-1A-05.

    (a)    (1)    Each county board shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Department, each eligible private provider participating in publicly funded prekindergarten in the county, and other applicable government agencies.

        (2)    Before executing a memorandum of understanding under this section, each county board shall submit an implementation plan of the proposed memorandum of understanding to the Accountability and Implementation Board in accordance with § 5–404 of this article.

    (b)    The Department shall develop a model memorandum of understanding for use by county boards of education in fulfilling the requirements under this section.

    (c)    Each memorandum of understanding shall, at a minimum, provide for:

        (1)    The adoption of an early childhood educator career ladder by eligible private providers in accordance with § 7–1A–08 of this subtitle;

        (2)    Services for children with disabilities;

        (3)    A process by which a parent is able to indicate a preference for eligible prekindergarten providers;

        (4)    The manner for processing the payment of the State share, local share, and family share for each child who is enrolled with an eligible prekindergarten provider;

        (5)    Any agreed upon administrative costs to be retained by an agency that is party to the agreement;

        (6)    The manner in which the parties will meet the requirements of this subtitle;

        (7)    A plan to address racial and socioeconomic integration in prekindergarten classrooms;

        (8)    A method for the county board to distribute a list of eligible public and private providers in the same area with a parent interested in enrolling the parent’s child in a prekindergarten program;

        (9)    Facilitation of peer–to–peer eligible prekindergarten provider meetings, through a prekindergarten provider hub if one is established in the area, in which eligible prekindergarten providers are able to share best practices in the field; and

        (10)    Any other provisions necessary to carry out this subtitle.

    (d)    A memorandum of understanding under this section shall seek to avoid, to the extent practicable, a disproportionate concentration of students of the same race, ethnicity, disability status, and income within an eligible provider.